


The One Where Suki and Zuko are #Bros4Life

by 530_and_some_fandoms



Series: The Adventures of Flabby the Badgerfrog [3]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Adding Tags As I Think Of Them, But I don't care, Firelord Zuko (Avatar), Gen, How Do I Tag, I do what I want, I know they only stayed on Ember Island for like two days, Minor Mai/Zuko, Minor Sokka/Suki, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, POV Suki (Avatar), Post-100 Year War (Avatar TV), Post-Episode: s03e14-15 The Boiling Rock, Suki & Zuko (Avatar) Friendship, Suki (Avatar)-centric, Suki and Zuko are bros and you can't tell me otherwise, The Kyoshi Warriors - Freeform, This story is literally only them, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, no one else speaks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:13:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29029242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/530_and_some_fandoms/pseuds/530_and_some_fandoms
Summary: " 'Couldn’t sleep?' Suki asked.'Did I wake you?''No,' Suki lied. 'Thanks for helping Sokka get us out of the Boiling Rock,''It was the least I could do,''You didn’t have to do it,' Zuko looked surprised by the notion.'And let Sokka bring Appa to a prison?' Suki gave a small laugh that Zuko looked startled by.'Good point,' Suki conceded. "
Relationships: Suki & Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar), Zuko & Flabby the Badgerfrog
Series: The Adventures of Flabby the Badgerfrog [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2073243
Comments: 8
Kudos: 129
Collections: AtLA <10k fics to read





	The One Where Suki and Zuko are #Bros4Life

**Author's Note:**

> This took a very long time. Oops
> 
> Basically, I thought this was going to be very short. Like, really, really short. 1000 words max.  
> This is about 3000 words longer than expected.  
> Here's the thing. I love Suki and she just kinda does what she wants to do, and I couldn't bring myself to argue. So here. 4000 words of Suki POV. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Also, this could be read as a stand-alone, but it's part of a series. Some bits won't make sense if you don't read at least the first work in the series beforehand.

Suki was not expecting Zuko to have a pet. 

Sure, he was reformed and all, Sokka had assured her of that, and this painfully awkward person differed vastly from the screaming teen that had burned her village. The former prince proved he was trustworthy after getting himself captured so they could get out of the Boiling Rock, and then later fighting his sister no less, and leaving his girlfriend (?) behind. He seemed nice enough when he wasn’t yelling, going as far to apologize for her village.

Suki would even go as far to say that she liked this more subdued version of Zuko. She would take an angsty, brooding Zuko over an angsty, screaming Zuko any day of the week. 

Still, the badgerfrog threw her for a loop.

The Badgerfrog had a name. Its name was Flabby. That only seemed to make the situation worse. 

Toph had named the frog, she learned at dinner that night, as said girl bent the frog his own pedestal between her and Zuko. Suki noticed that over dinner, the two benders slipped the badgerfrog bits of rice or whatever vegetables they didn’t like whenever Katara wasn’t looking. It was almost endearing until Katara caught them and sent Zuko the most terrifying glare Suki had ever seen. Zuko flinched back and Suki didn’t blame him.

There was a lot to unpack there, but Katara obviously didn’t like Zuko.

Suki also noticed that Zuko kept glancing in Chief Hakoda’s direction as he reunited with his kids. He looked worried. Scared? 

Maybe there was more to unpack than she thought. 

But Suki was tired. It had been a really long day. Breaking out of prison after months of being there and learning to pilot an airship took a lot of energy, not that Suki was surprised about that fact. What she wouldn’t give for a bed roll right now. 

Thankfully, the night wound down quickly. Soon after everyone had finished eating, things settled down and everyone started getting ready for bed. Suki pulled her bed roll as close as possible to Sokka’s (his dad was right there, after all) and quickly fell asleep. 

Suki awoke to a dark sky and someone walking around. She raised her head from her pillow and looked around, trying to find the source of the noise. 

A shadow sat down on the edge of the temple, feet dangling over the empty chasm. Suki glanced around where everyone slept, trying to figure out who was up. There were no abandoned mats, but there was only one person missing. Zuko. 

Suki looked back to Zuko. Was getting up worth it?

Well, she had to thank him at some point. 

Suki got up as quietly as she could and crept over to the lone firebender. He didn’t seem to hear her, or see her as she approached. As she got closer, she saw he was holding the badgerfrog in his lap. 

She sat on his left side, trying to find what he was staring so intently at. Or maybe that was just the scar. 

“Couldn’t sleep?” Suki whispered. 

Zuko didn’t seem to hear her. Flabby seemed to be asleep. Suki frowned. The scar couldn’t have possibly affected his hearing, right? He had to just be zoned out and not paying attention to her. Suki didn’t really want to think of the alternative. 

Zuko was just a kid. How did he get a scar so  _ terrible? _

Just to be safe, Suki reached out and nudged Zuko. 

Zuko jumped and turned his head all the way to look at Suki, something she probably wouldn’t have noticed unless she was looking for it. Like now. 

Flabby gave a mournful croak at being awakened, but seemed to relax in his firebender’s lap nonetheless. 

“Sorry,” Suki breathed. Zuko turned away, his shoulders tense. 

“It’s fine,” he said, but he didn’t relax. 

Suki frowned. And then got up from her seat and moved to Zuko’s right side. It wasn’t much, but Suki watched as his shoulders lost the smallest bit of tension. 

“Couldn’t sleep?” Suki asked again.

“Did I wake you?” 

“No,” Suki lied. He was skittish as it is, and awkward to boot. Suki didn’t want to mess this up and have him hate her for the rest of her days. Sokka and the others (except perhaps Katara) made it obvious that Zuko was stuck with them, so she didn’t want this to be awful. 

“Thanks for helping Sokka get us out of the Boiling Rock,” 

“It was the least I could do,” 

“You didn’t have to do it,” Zuko looked surprised by the notion. 

“And let Sokka bring Appa to a prison?” Suki gave a small laugh that Zuko looked startled by. 

“Good point,” Suki conceded. 

There was too much silence between them between talking, and it was getting awkward. Suki fumbled for something to say. 

“I never expected you to have a frog,”  _ Nice going Suki. Bring up the frog and see how it goes.  _

Zuko gave a small smile, which sort of astonished her. She had never seen the fire bender smile before. It was nothing like his sister’s smiles. Azula had visited enough that Suki had been at the receiving end of them enough to memorize the way her face twisted into something cold, hard, and angry enough that it was more a snarl than a smile. 

Zuko's smile was softer. Happier. Not fueled by anger, hate, or desire, but by the fact Suki had asked about his stupid badgerfrog. 

Maybe Suki should stop calling the badgerfrog stupid if Zuko was so fond of it. 

“I found him in the woods and he wouldn’t stop following me,” Zuko said simply.

“You got bullied by a frog?” 

“That’s exactly what Sokka said,” the firebender exclaimed, but there was no heat behind it. He then glanced over his shoulder, checking to see if he woke anyone up. Suki glanced back too, but no one moved. 

“But yeah, I did,” Zuko sighed, turning back to the chasm. 

“I can’t get over the fact that Toph named him Flabby,” Suki said after a moment. 

“It is a bit of a terrible name,” Suki laughed. 

“A bit?” she asked. Zuko’s lips quirked up into a ghost of a smile.

Suki looked up to the clear sky. The stars shone brighter than she had ever seen. She supposed it was from the height or the isolation. There were no villages for miles around, and especially no cities whose almost constant light blocked the stars.

She traced Yangchen’s arrow and Kyoshi’s headpiece with her eyes. The stars differed slightly here than on Kyoshi, but those were always present. She could see traces of the Badgermole constellation over the opposite cliff wall, but that was all she recognized. 

“Is… do you,” Zuko mumbled, breaking the silence between them. Suki nodded for him to continue. “Do you know if Chief Hakoda is… good? To Sokka and Katara, I mean,” 

Suki stared at Zuko.

To tell the truth, she had only met Hakoda the day before and a prison break wasn’t exactly the best time to get to know a person. But Sokka had risked his life to get him back and seemed ecstatic with the man here. Katara too. And Hakoda seemed to love them a lot. 

“I think so,” Zuko visibly relaxed. 

Suki wondered why he was so worried. Zuko was the Prince of the Fire Nation. Or was. Suki didn’t quite know where he stood right now in terms of that. But either way, he should have lived a safe and sheltered life within the confines of the Royal Palace, his every need catered to. And sure, the Fire Lord may be a psychopath to the rest of the world, but he must hold some love for his family. 

But then Suki remembered Zuko’s scar. No firebender should be able to hurt the Prince of the Fire Nation so badly that his senses would be affected. And that he was worried for Sokka and Katara (who, by all rights hated him) about Hakoda was slightly worrying. 

The dots connected in her head and Suki wished they hadn’t. It made her slightly sick to think about. She had heard a couple of stories from Earth Kingdom merchants, about how the Fire Lord had burned his son and cast him away. But then she had heard from the Fire Nation that his scar was a training accident and hunting the Avatar was a Fire Nation Royal Family tradition. Kyoshi wasn’t half as isolated as others thought it was and neutrality was a great breeding ground for international gossip, no matter how skewed. 

Suki wondered which rumor was correct. She assumed that the Fire Nation would have the more correct version, but considering the gemsbok-bull crap Zuko spat out about the “Air Army”, the propaganda was strong in the Fire Nation. But who would have stood by to watch an innocent child, the Prince, burn? And at the hands of his father no less?

Suki suddenly stood up. Zuko glanced up at her and she offered her hand to help him stand up. He didn’t take in. Suki drew it back to her side. 

“I’m going to bed,” she quietly announced, “I think you should too. You’re training Aang in the morning, right?” 

Zuko nodded, but didn’t stand. He absentmindedly scratched Flabby’s back. 

“I’ll go to bed soon,” Suki didn’t quite believe him, but nodded anyway. She walked back to her bedroll, glancing behind her and hoping that Zuko was getting up to go to sleep. He didn’t. 

She sighed soundlessly and laid down.

Against all odds, Suki was worried for the Prince of the Fire Nation. 

* * *

The topic, in all the weeks between their midnight conversation and Sozin’s Comet was never brought up. Suki was slightly grateful. She didn’t really want to know if she was correct. That would make it worse. At least now she could pretend she didn’t suspect, even if she saw all the signs. The flinching, the quietness when anything about his former home was brought up, the wariness when practicing with Aang, especially when he had to throw fire towards the young Avatar. 

He seemed to hold no love for his old home and family, except for maybe his uncle (who he brought up often) and his mother (who he brought up rarely, and always with a sad look on his face). The scar wasn’t discussed on pain of making him upset. 

Suki and Zuko talked little in that time, but there was an air of understanding between the two. Sometimes she woke up to find Zuko awake too, practicing with his swords or staring off into space with Flabby in his lap. On those occasions, Suki would walk up (on his right side) and sit down. 

They didn’t usually talk, but sometimes it was better to not be alone. 

When they did talk, it was about superficial stuff. What they had for dinner. If Aang was ever going to ask Katara out. What Sokka did early that annoyed Suki, but that she also found slightly endearing. 

They never discussed the approaching comet, or what they would do when that day came. They never mentioned the Fire Lord or Ba Sing Se or Azula. Those topics were unspokenly off limits, but Suki knew they hung heavy in both of their minds as they sat in silence. 

Suki started to teach Zuko Kyoshi style hand to hand somewhere after Azula arrived at the Western Air Temple and before Zuko and Katara went on a vengeance mission. He was a quicker study than Sokka, who she had also been teaching, but Suki just assumed it was because he had years of self-defense training ingrained in him. Whatever the reason, he was quickly mastering the forms with grace. 

Flabby liked to watch in on these lessons, especially after they arrived at Zuko’s family’s old vacation house. There was shade for the badgerfrog to watch from, and he didn’t seem to feel threatened by it the same way he felt about fire or swords. It wasn’t like the badgerfrog could do much other than jump over during breaks and beg for attention, so Suki allowed it. 

What worried Suki the most was the bags under Zuko’s eyes that had gotten deeper since his arrival here. She knew he hadn’t been sleeping as much as he should have, but she had known that for a long time. He had been training Aang and practicing with Suki, on top of planning for when the Comet arrived. It seemed he had left no time for him to joke around and be a kid with the rest of them. And no time for sleep, apparently. 

A couple nights later, when she was awakened by Zuko sneaking out to “swordbend” in the garden, she asked. 

“Zuko, how much sleep do you get? Because you look awful,” The firebender stiffened, but continued his form. His form seemed less smooth and more fatigued than the last time she had seen him practice. 

“Not much,” he admitted with a sharp puff of breath among his attempts for steady breathing. She had never really seen Zuko get really out of breath either. Not when using his swords or when firebending. Even when he was running, his breath always seemed to stay at the same steady pace. It felt like something Suki could count on. The world could end, but as long as Zuko was alive, he would continue to breathe in the same rhythm as always. 

“But how much?” “Not much” was a vague answer, and Zuko had seemed perfectly fine waiting outside Katara’s earth tent a few weeks ago. He didn’t even take a nap the next day, and then probably flew through the night with Katara. “Not much” could qualify for only a few hours in the past few weeks, and that would worry anyone. 

Zuko slumped. 

“It’s the house,” he said instead of answering, “I said my family hasn’t been here since we were actually happy, but maybe I was the only one happy. My mother was stuck here and my father never showed up and if he did, he’d still be just as angry as he was at the Palace. Azula was… Azula, but slightly less bent on murdering me,” If Suki had known that depriving the firebender of sleep would loosen his tongue, she probably wouldn’t have done it, anyway. This seemed private. 

“Was I just making it all up? The happiness?” Zuko said, sounding exhausted. Suki didn’t quite know what to say to that. She had known what it was like to lose a parent. She had never known her father, and her mother died when she was young, but she had felt nothing how Zuko had felt, at least not in the way Suki expected Zuko had felt, because she still didn’t have any concrete evidence for that. 

“I don’t know Zuko, but I think you should really get some sleep. You really do look terrible,” she said, eyeing the bags under the boy’s good eye. He sighed, but nodded. That probably wasn’t what he wanted to hear, but he needed to get some sleep if he wanted to be functioning for the Comet in a week (only a week? Where had the time gone?). 

Suki led the way back to where the Gaang had set up camp: in the middle of the living room with mattresses dragged from the bedrooms. Both teenagers found their spots and waved each other goodnight. 

Suki was surprised, but not displeased to find that Zuko had slept in past sunrise for the first time she had known him. 

* * *

The year after the end of the war had been chaos. 

Between defeating Fire Lord Ozai, Zuko being crowned the new Fire Lord, Suki going back to Kyoshi, and then Suki coming back to the Fire Nation because apparently Zuko was having assassination attempts and the last one had gotten close to getting him, Suki barely had time to take a breath. 

Suki actually liked the Fire Nation. Sure, it was hot, and filled with people that a year ago she would have considered her greatest enemies, but the food wasn’t so bad. And this time she had her Warriors, wasn’t in prison, and was friends with the freaking Fire Lord. Being there had its perks. 

But, of course, the last year: chaos. Suki wouldn’t ever want to repeat it again, even if she was offered the chance to meet Kyoshi.

Speaking of, she could probably ask Aang if she could meet Kyoshi and he would probably say yes, knowing him. That would be pretty cool. 

But it had been chaos. Not the fun kind, either. Suki could really use a nap, but she had a couple more hours on her shift before she could go to her (elaborate) (knowing the Firelord definitely had its perks) room and sleep. 

Basically, all she did was take part in rounds with the guards, stand outside important rooms, and sometimes follow Zuko around. It wasn’t the most interesting job regularly, but it was nice to have a routine after not knowing what was coming next for so long. 

This particular day, Suki was charged with following Zuko, at a distance of course, and standing outside whatever room he was in. The sun was setting, a brilliant orange in the sky that Suki had seen nowhere else, casting a golden light over the palace grounds. Zuko wasn’t there to enjoy it; rather, he was neck deep in paperwork inside his room. 

Suki stood outside the room with another Kyoshi Warrior, a heavy-set girl named Miku, listening intently to make sure nothing of concern was happening inside, which was hard because the doors were thick and Zuko was quiet. 

Inside the room, Suki heard the squeal of a chair being pushed back and muffled footsteps echo across the room to the balcony doors on the other side of the room. The balcony doors were opened, and the footsteps disappeared. Suki made eye contact with Miku, who shrugged before turning forward again. Suki frowned but did the same. It wasn’t uncommon for this to happen, but Suki wanted to be careful anyway. 

Half an hour later, Suki knocked on the door. There was no answer. She knocked again. 

“Zuko?” she called. Miku glanced over at her, worry clear on her face. 

Suki pushed the door open. 

Zuko didn’t move into the official Fire Lord’s chambers after his coronation, but that didn’t mean his room wasn’t extremely large and lavish and probably the most expensive room Suki had ever seen. An enormous bed took up the center of the room. The balcony doors were to the right of the bed and there was a fireplace with a few chairs and dual dao swords hanging above it to the left. A desk was in the corner, though Suki could barely see the wood with the amount of paper and uneaten meals that covered it. Flabby was in front of the lit fireplace on a cushion Suki thought was far too lavish for a badgerfrog, but Flabby seemed to love it, if the fact that he was contently sleeping on it was anything to go by. 

The balcony doors were thrown wide open, curtains flowing in the wind. There was no one on the balcony. Suki walked over, pulling her metal fans from her pockets just in case, and walked over.

She stepped out on the balcony, looking around. Zuko liked to sneak out to the city, which definitely wasn’t safe and at the very least he could bring her along when he did. When Suki glanced up, though, she found legs donned in Fire Lord robes dangling over the side of the roof. She gave a soft snort, tucked her fans back into her armor, and started to scale the wall to the roof before thinking twice, her mind going back to the food that lay on his desk. 

Suki walked back into the room, checking in with Miku, before grabbing a few pastries from a plate and stuffing them in her pockets. She walked out to the balcony once more and scaled the wall up to the roof with ease. 

Zuko jumped slightly as she crested the roof, but calmed down when he saw it was Suki.

“I needed a break,” he said in lieu of a hello. 

“You need a lot more than only one break,” Suki said, snorting softly. She pulled a pastry out of her pocket and offered it to Zuko. He shook his head. 

“Not hungry,” 

“You didn’t eat any of your food today,” 

“I had some tea,” 

“You had some tea?” 

“I had a lot of tea,”

Suki forced the pastry into Zuko’s hand before sitting next to him, letting her legs dangle over the side of the roof. 

“Hate to break it to you, but it’s physically impossible for a human to survive of tea alone,” 

“Uncle could do it,”

“Yeah, well. That’s Uncle Iroh. It’s different,” Suki grinned when Zuko gave a small smile. She and Sokka had a competition for who could make Zuko smile more, and Sokka wouldn’t be in the lead much longer if Suki could help it. 

The two of them fell silent, both of their gazes up toward the sky. The stars were fainter than they were on Kyoshi Island and at the Western Air Temple because of the light from the capitol city, but Suki could still see Yangchen’s Arrow and Kyoshi’s Headpiece and the Badgermole constellation. Out of the corner of her eye, Suki watched as Zuko took a tentative bite of the pastry, before zealously finishing it as if he only just then realized how hungry he was. Suki passed him a second one, and he finished that just as quickly. The third was half finished before he slowed down. 

“Why are you up here anyway?” Zuko asked, breaking the silence. 

“Do I need an excuse to visit a friend?”

“You see me every day,”

“You bury yourself in work and meetings every day and never take breaks, even to eat. That’s hardly seeing.” Zuko frowned.

“I have a country to fix and a people to rule. I can’t quite do nothing and leave them to fend for themselves,” he said hotly. 

“It won’t do them any good if you run yourself into the ground for them. If you die, Azula will be on the throne and I have to say I don’t think anyone wants that,” Zuko snorted bitterly.

“Tell that to my Father’s ‘Loyalists’,” 

“That’s why I’m here. To kick the ass of anyone who says otherwise,” Suki said with a small chuckle.

“You don’t have to be here if you don’t want to,” Zuko said. It caught Suki off guard.

“Why do you say that?” 

Zuko shrugged. 

“You came here because I couldn’t fend off a stupid assassin,” Zuko met her eyes for the first time that day. The skin under his good eye resembled a bruise, “I’m fine now. You don’t have to be here if you don’t want to,”   
“I want to,” was all she said. 

Zuko turned away, staring out over the bright lights of the city. 

“How are you and Sokka?” he said after a moment, changing the subject. 

Suki shrugged. 

“Long distance is hard,” was all she said. Zuko nodded. Suki continued.

“It doesn’t feel quite the same as it did anymore. The letters are nice, but I wish he was here. And even when we are together, it still isn’t the same,” Zuko nodded solemnly. 

“How about you and Mai?” Suki asked. Zuko sighed.

“We broke up a couple of weeks ago,” Suki’s eyes widened, surprised she hadn’t heard about this before. Surely it would have been the talk of the Palace. 

“I’m sorry,” 

“No, it’s fine. I think I knew it was going to happen eventually,” 

“Still. It sucks,” 

“Yeah,” Zuko said, “Yeah, it kinda does,” 

After a few more minutes, Zuko finished off the last pastry and stood up, holding his hand out to help Suki up. She took it and together they descended to Zuko’s balcony. 

Zuko made to go back to his desk, but Suki grabbed his elbow and forced him to stop. 

“No more work,” she said. Zuko opened his mouth to argue, but Suki held up a hand. 

“It’s late and, no offense, it looks like someone punched you in the face. You need sleep if you want to actually function,” 

“But-”

“Please,” Flabby croaked loudly behind them, “See, Flabby agrees with me,” 

Zuko’s shoulders relaxed slightly, and Suki knew she had won. 

“Fine,” he said, though he didn’t sound too happy about it. Suki grinned and walked toward the door. As she left the room, she thought she heard Zuko whisper a soft thank you.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Debating between Toph and Aang next. Who do you think it should be?
> 
> Thanks for reading! If you so please, leave a kudos or a comment!


End file.
